FORT COLLINS -- The Northern Colorado Drug Task Force will hold a public hearing next week for anyone interested in learning about how their federal tax dollars are used to fight drug crime in the region.

The public hearing is held annually to discuss the proposed projects for federal assistance under the U.S. Department of Justice, Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

This year, the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force has requested $57,722 in grant funding; no local match is required.

Drug Task Force Commander Lt. Greg Yeager said the task force depends heavily on the funding, which continues to decrease each year and is expected to take at least a $7,000 hit this year due to the federal sequester.

"There's less money for a variety of reasons," Yeager said. "Every year, the amount of money we've been allocated decreases by an average of $14,000 and that was before sequestration even came up."

The application for the JAG funding was also delayed because of the sequester, and Yeager said they were unsure if there would be any money available at all this year. No new equipment will be purchased with the funding, but Yeager said it instead will provide for ongoing maintenance costs of current equipment and help offset officer overtime.

"We absolutely depend on it," Yeager said. "We the task force have set aside seizure money to give ourselves a safety net. ... If we lost another $60,000, that's a significant hit."

The sequester has also impacted drug seizure money - instead of local agencies receiving about 80 percent of seizure money after a drug raid, the federal government is now taking an additional 10 percent.